Dear Matty:

I am glad you answered and are still active on your thread (as well as having commented on others I didn’t read yet)!

About siblings: I recently learned, it became clear to me how it is most often the case that siblings are more different than strangers, that is two brothers are more likely to be most different than one brother and a non sibling. Siblings take different niches in a family, when one brother is this way, the other brother… automatically takes a different attitude, beliefs, behaviors. This is my experience. (I used to be confused about why my sister is so different than me… but now I understand).

You taking a different route in high school than your peers, caring to make a living, making money while they were in a party mode, does make one… more serious. And of course, I am not suggesting there is anything wrong with your route. There are benefits to it. But the topic of the thread is “struggling to fit in and connect”- and that is my focus.

What do you think motivated you in grade 9 or 10 to take apprenticeship while your peers did not? Where did this motivation come from? Where did the idea originate from: something suggested to you? Something you came up with… ?

anita